


sweet and good and beautiful as she is.

by orinscrivello



Category: Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Little Shop of Horrors - All Media Types, Little Shop of Horrors - Menken/Ashman
Genre: F/M, Redemption, audrey is still perfect, but he's doing his best, i love audrey so much, i........ just want her to be happy, orin is ?????? getting better ?????? but he's doing a very mediocre job, orin is really fucking bad at this, orin is trying, she's perfect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:33:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27593486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orinscrivello/pseuds/orinscrivello
Summary: audrey is giving orin another chance, but he's on thin fucking ice.
Relationships: Audrey Fulquard/Orin Scrivello
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	sweet and good and beautiful as she is.

“Orin?”

  
Audrey turned to glance at him. The leather-jacket-clad dentist met her eyes, letting his gaze wander. The blonde did a ditzy little spin, showing off the twirl of her dress. “How’s this?”

  
He jammed his hands into his jacket pockets. He had a moment’s time to decide whether he liked the dress on her, but truth be told Audrey’s fashion sense had always been immaculate. Everything she chose for herself was gorgeous on her, and that’s not saying much considering in Orin’s opinion pretty much everything looked good on the girl. They were standing in front of a large mirror in the women’s clothing section of a huge Gimbel’s department store. Even though Audrey worked downtown, Orin more often than not took her uptown for their dates, criticizing how awful Skid Row was as he revved his engine outside Mushnik’s. “Lovely, doll.”

  
And yet in all that sweetness, Orin still usually ended up fumbling the ball.

  
The dentist was still an awful creep when it came to his job—as sadistic as ever. He hadn’t really ever _stopped_ being sadistic, actually. He had simply stopped taking it out on his girlfriend. That did not come out of nowhere, either. Without intervention, Orin would not have even pondered the idea that what he was doing was bad. He didn’t care to. He didn’t notice, and if he had, Orin could not have given less of a shit.

  
“Y’think? Or are you just saying that?”

  
It had been Seymour, actually, who had gotten him to notice what he was doing, which was in all honesty pretty embarrassing for the both of them. Orin still bullied Seymour incessantly. It was funny, in the dentist’s opinion, to see the botanist cower, uncomfortable, behind the counter. But either way, Seymour had expressed how awful it was what Orin was doing to Audrey—and Orin had finally grasped the notion of it. By then, maybe, it was too late.

  
Audrey was throwing him a bone here, right now, in front of a 50-percent-off salesrack.

  
"Nah, I mean it, babe. Pink’s your color.” She had prompted him with her last sentence, and he had taken the bait, almost appreciative. While it was a bit downright patronizing, the way Audrey had to guide him through behaving _well_ , Orin had drilled it into his mind that it was necessary. Orin, in all accounts, was never going to be _good_. But the blonde had taken him by the arm, looked at him dead in the eyes for the first time in months, and told him he could be still be better. And if Audrey, good and sweet and perfect Audrey, if she believed Orin could be a better person, maybe he could. At least he’d try. For her, not for himself, because clearly being a sleaze had worked out pretty well for him in the past.

  
“Gosh, that’s sweet, Orin.” She turned back to the mirror, fingering the hem of the skirt. “Guess it’d look cuter with a fluffy little petticoat underneath, huh?” She was almost talking to herself. Orin nodded absentmindedly, not certain what he was agreeing with. “No worries. I’ve got a million.” She laughed this pretty little giggle, and Orin bit the inside of his cheek. Not sorry, maybe, but remorseful. Not _sorry_ , maybe, because Orin didn’t really know how to be _sorry_ , but he was tired of hurting her.

  
“Shall we?” He snapped himself from his own thoughts by speaking, reaching out to take the dress from her. He folded it in his hands. “We’ve got a few more stores to hit, doll, and then I’m taking you to dinner. Somewhere fancy, like Howard Johnson’s.”

  
Audrey giggled again. This time it made his throat close. She kissed his cheek and started past the salesrack. “Sound absolutely wonderful, Doctor.”

  
Orin hesitated for a second, watching her go, oddly tense. “Wait— wait, Audrey.”

  
She paused, and turned, staring at him, eyes bright. Her calmness—the fact that she was _fine_ , she was _okay_ , the fact that Orin carried her name on his tongue without any bitterness—it was good. She turned to face him with nothing but softness in her eyes. If he tried hard enough, he could have scoured a bit of relief from her gaze as well. Relief that he was trying, that he was better, that she was _safe_. Guilt stabbed him in the stomach, just a bit below his ribs.

  
“Thank you.” His voice was a low, hushed whisper. He felt far too vulnerable. “For, y’know. Thinkin' I can be better.”

  
She offered him this tight, bittersweet smile, and stepped toward him. “Things are going to be okay,” she professed quietly. “Thank you for trying.”

  
“I mean it.” He took her by the arm. “I mean it, really. You didn’t have to— you didn’t have t'give me a second chance.” This was difficult. Words like these were not his forte. “But you did, so _thank you_.”

  
Audrey softened. Orin's throat closed again, and the dress felt heavy in his hand.

“You’re welcome.”

**Author's Note:**

> i love audrey and seymour with every aching bone in my body but if i didn't give orin one (1) good day i was going to go absolutely ballistic


End file.
